US STOCKS-Wall Street to open modestly higher in shorter session

* Retailers in focus with Black Friday underway

* Greece says IMF relaxes debt-cutting target

* RIM shares surge on new product optimism

* Futures up: Dow 38 pts, S&P 5 pts, Nasdaq 14 pts

By Leah Schnurr

NEW YORK, Nov 23 Wall Street was set to start an
abbreviated session modestly higher on Friday on signs of
progress in talks about releasing aid to Greece, and with the
U.S. retail sector in focus as the holiday shopping season
begins.

The U.S. equity market was closed Thursday for the
Thanksgiving holiday, and trading Friday will end early at 1:00
pm ET (1800 GMT). With many investors on holiday, volume was
expected to be thin.

Greece said the International Monetary Fund had relaxed its
debt-cutting target for the country, suggesting lenders were
closer to a deal for a vital aid tranche to be paid. But other
sources involved in the talks cautioned the funding gap was far
bigger than Greece has suggested.

Euro zone finance ministers, the IMF and European Central
Bank (ECB) failed earlier this week to agree on how to get the
country's debt down to a sustainable level and will have a third
attempt at resolving the issue on Monday.

Separately, ECB President Mario Draghi said confidence was
returning to the euro zone, and governments must implement
reforms to secure the bloc's future.

"We're looking at a higher opening, there is some good news
coming out of Europe," said Peter Cardillo, chief market
economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

"The fact that we're very close to sealing a deal for Greece
certainly (helps) the risk-trade."

Shares of Research in Motion surged in premarket
trading on optimism about its soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10
devices that will vie against Apple's iPhone and
Android-based smartphones. RIM was up 11.8 percent at $11.47,
after earlier climbing more than 14 percent.

S&P 500 futures rose 5 points and were above fair
value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account
interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the
contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures added 38
points, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 14 points.

The S&P 500 was poised to break a two-week losing streak,
having gained more than 2 percent this week so far. Stocks had
tumbled earlier in the month on worries about the impact of tax
and spending changes to take effect from January, but hopes that
politicians will reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal
cliff helped the market recoup some of those declines this week.

Investors will likely focus on the retail sector as the
holiday shopping season begins, looking for signs of how much
consumers are spending as stores offer Black Friday deals and
discounts.

Shares of electronics retailer Best Buy Co were up
1.6 percent at $11.75, while J C Penney gained 2.4
percent to $17.67.

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, kicks off the U.S.
Christmas shopping season for retailers and is often the busiest
shopping day of the year.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's securities portfolio has not
reached a level where it would hold back the central bank from
its bond-buying programs, John Williams, the president of the
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, told the Wall Street Journal
in an interview.

The Fed launched its latest stimulus program in September,
saying it would buy $40 billion a month in mortgage-backed
securities until the labor market significantly improved.

Overseas, German business morale surprised with its first
rise in seven months in November, offering hope that Europe's
largest economy could regain some momentum.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Dec 9 U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump on Friday was expected to name a senior Goldman
Sachs banker to coordinate economic policy across his
administration, turning again to Wall Street for expertise in
managing the world's largest economy.

Dec 9 Coca-Cola Co said on Friday that
Muhtar Kent would step aside as chief executive next year and be
replaced by James Quincey, a company veteran credited with
several recent changes to help the company cut its dependence on
sugary drinks.

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